Women's Lacrosse Earns LEC Post-Season Honors

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA -Two members of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's lacrosse team and the team itself have earned All-Little East Conference honors.

Sophomore defender Selina Houghton (Billerica, MA/Shawsheen HS) was named first team All-Conference, and LEC Defensive Player of the Year, while junior defender Casey Otovic (Wilmington, MA/Bishop Fenwick HS) was named second team All-Conference. The Corsairs also received the LEC's Sportsmanship Award.

Houghton scored four goals and added two assists for six points, and led UMass Dartmouth with 65 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. Otovic was second in both categories with 52 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers. Houghton led the LEC with 4.06 ground balls per game and was second with 1.50 caused turnovers per game, while Otovic was tied for third with 1.44 caused turnovers per game.

"When Selina came to us as a freshman recruit, I knew that she was special," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Jerry Jennings. "After learning our system, she has improved very much, and she richly deserves this honor. Selina is our first Defensive Player of the Year, and we're very proud of this accomplishment, and feel that she has even better things ahead of her. Casey is another outstanding defensive player. We changed the way she played a little bit this year, and she responded well. Earning All-Conference honors is a great tribute to the learning curve that she has accomplished."

Jennings was pleased that his team was honored. "The Sportsmanship Award is an honor to receive from the other teams in the conference," said Jennings. "We will accept this award with great humility, in the spirit that such awards were given."

Even though UMD finished sixth in the LEC, Jennings said that his team acquitted themselves well. "We lost a lot of close contests that didn't go our way," said Jennings. "I remain very proud of our team because they were always ready to go, and never let down. When you consider that we have 6 a.m. workouts, and everyone was there, you have to really love a team like this that's ready to make that commitment. We're going into next season with a lot of pride, and hope to turn the close games to our advantage."